1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic door panel producing apparatus and method, more particularly to an automatic door panel producing apparatus and method for producing door panels in a single line in order to enable continuous production.
2. Prior Arts
In general, a door panel is used in doors of houses, garages, or factories etc. The door panel has various patterns on its surface according to its use. Polyurethane or glasswool is inserted between the inner and outer metal plates of the door panel. The polyurethane or fiberglass has soundproofing and heatproofing functions. The polyurethane(pu) or fiberglass has a fixed thickness according to its use. The polyurethane insulated door panel is produced by a material supply process, a flat regulating process, a material feeding process, a pressing process, a cutting process, a forming process, a hot pressing process and a pu pouring process, and a unloading process. The material supply process is a process which supplies material via an uncoiler. The flat regulating process is a process which regulates the flatness of the material through a leveler. The material feeding process is a process which advances the material. The cutting process is a process which cuts the material by a regular size. The pressing process is a process which forms patterns on the material. The forming process folds over the edges of the material. The hot pressing process and pu pouring process, and unloading process should be performed at the hot press process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,381 (issued to Per Just Anderson et al.) discloses a method and apparatus for manufacturing articles of manufacture, particularly containers and packaging materials from hydraulically settable sheets.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional door panel producing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional door panel producing apparatus includes an uncoiler 102, a leveler 104, a materiel feeder 106, a cutter 108, a press 110, a roll forming device 112, and a hot press 114.
The uncoiler 102 supplies a wound material. The leveler 104 regulates flatness of the material. The material feeder 106 forwards the material having regulated flatness by a fixed length. The cutter 108 trims the fed material by the fixed length. The press 110 forms a pattern on the cut material. The roll forming device 112 forms over edges of the material having the formed pattern. The hot press 114 pours polyurethane(pu) between the inner and outer plate materials and cures the poured polyurethane(pu).
An operation of the conventional door panel producing device will be described referring to FIG. 1. When the material is supplied from the uncoiler 102 to the leveler 104, the leveler 104 regulates a flatness of the supplied material. The material feeder 106. forwards the material by a fixed length. And the cutter 108 cuts the material by a fixed length. The cut material is transferred to the press 110 by means of a conveyer 116. The press 110 forms a pattern on the material. The material from the press 110 is transferred to the roll forming device 112 by means of a conveyer 118. The roll forming device 112 folds over edges of the material from the press 110.
After performing the process, a worker loads inner and outer plates of the door panel on a carriage 120 so that the inner and outer plates of the door panel are inserted into the hot press 114. The worker joins the inner and outer materials in fixed thickness by means of a reinforced material(not shown), and piles the joined inner and outer materials on the hot press 114 in layers. The worker then pours the polyurethane between the inner and outer materials. After a predetermined curing time, the polyurethane has solidified, the worker unloads it and loads the door panel on the carriage 102 to thereby complete production of the door panel.
However, the conventional door panel producing apparatus has problems as follows. Since the pressing process and the roll forming process proceed after the cutting of the materials, the entire process is not continuous. And since the combining process joining the inner and outer materials is manually performed, the completed door panel has poor quality. Also, since the process which joins the inner plate to the outer plate or the process which loads the completed door panel on the carriage is manually performed, working hours and the number of workers are excessive and, accordingly the production cost of the door panel is also too high.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a door panel automatic producing apparatus and method capable of continuously performing all processes in manufacturing a door panel.
In order to achieve this object, the present invention, there is provided an automatic door panel producing apparatus, said apparatus comprising;
a first uncoiler being wound around an inner plate material forming an inner surface of a door panel for supplying the wound inner plate material;
a first leveler for regulating a flatness of the inner plate material supplied from the first uncoiler;
a presser for forming a pattern on the inner plate material fed from the first leveler;
a marking device for marking a cutting position on the inner plate material from the presser;
a bend controller for controlling a bend of the inner plate material from the marking device;
a second uncoiler being wound around an outer plate material forming an outer surface of the door panel for supplying the wound outer plate material;
a second leveler for regulating a flatness of the outer plate material supplied from the second uncoiler;
a roll forming device for roll-forming both edges of the inner and outer plate materials from the bend controller and second leveler;
a heater for preheating the inner and the outer plate materials from the roll forming device;
an injector for injecting insulated material between the inner and outer plate materials preheated by the heater;
a marking sensor for sensing the mark on the inner plate material from the injector and outputting a sensing signal; and
a cutter for cutting the door panel at a fixed size according to the sensing signal from the marking sensor.
Preferably, the bend controller includes a sensing device for sensing a bend of the inner plate material from the marking device; a support member for supporting the inner plate material from the sensor; and a guide member for guiding the inner plate material supported by the support member.
Also, there is provided an automatic door panel automatic producing method, said method comprising the steps of;
i) supplying an inner plate material for a door panel;
ii) regulating a flatness of the inner plate material supplied in step i);
iii) forming a pattern on the inner plate material regulated in step ii);
iv) marking a cutting position on the inner plate material having a formed pattern in step iii);
v) controlling a bend of the inner plate material having a marked cutting position in step iv);
vi) supplying an outer plate material for the door panel;
vii) regulating a flatness of the outer plate material supplied in step vi);
viii) folding over both edges of the inner and outer plate materials;
ix) preheating the inner and outer plate materials folded in step viii);
x) injecting a blowing agent between the inner and outer plate materials preheated in step ix);
xi) sensing the mark on the inner plate material and outputting a sensing signal; and
xii) trimming the inner and outer plate materials at a set size according to the sensing signal.
According to the present invention, the inner and outer plate materials are processed while continuously passing through each device so that a door panel is completed. Therefore, the number of workers and working hours is reduced thereby improve productivity.